Amstelveen using paid parking to deter commuters working in Amsterdam

Amstelveen plans to implement more paid parking to deter commuters working in Amsterdam or Schiphol travelers from parking in the municipality and then using the bike or public transport to travel the rest of the way. The extra traffic and lack of parking space are an increasing problem for Amstelveen residents, VVD city councilor Menno van Leeuwen said to Parool.

Why park in Amsterdam when you can park in Amstelveen, a few kilometers away, for a lot less or even free? Commuters regularly park in the municipality, take out their folding bike, and cycle the rest of the way, Van Leeuwen said. Or Schiphol travelers take their suitcases and get on a train or tram. “Sometimes, the cars are there for weeks.”

The new Amstelveen coalition agreement, therefore, includes “rolling out paid parking where necessary” It already started in the north of the municipality and will move to the center and south if parking pressure continues to increase. Amstelveen residents will get a parking permit for “as cheap as possible,” the coalition agreement states. The coalition consists of VVD, D66, PvdA, and Goed voor Amstelveen.

Van Leeuwen described it as an unpopular but necessary measure. “People in Amstelveen don’t want this, but we must do it to counteract the waterbed effect. We will also have to use high parking rates in the future because it is expensive in Amsterdam, and people will still park here if our rates are lower. We are then forced to charge a more than the cost-effective amount for visitors.”